Chapter Two

It seemed like they had been there for hours. Maria was keeping quiet mostly, just listening to them joking and telling stories. They were all close friends and had known each other for so long. Maria felt so out of place.

"Oh Maria, it is sort of a tradition that we go over to my house after the games and hang out, you know, watch a movie, you should join us." Isabel smiled at the girl who she decided was her new friend.

"Oh... I really should be getting home."

Isabel's eyes went wide and she shot a look at Alex, demanding that he convince her not to go home. "Maria, come with us." Alex urged.

"No, Alex, really, I need to be getting home." Maria stood up and dug what little money she did have out of her pocket and tossed it on the table. "I'll see you at school on Monday." She told him.

"I'll walk you home." Alex jumped up from the booth.

"Alex, sit down." Maria insisted. "I'll be fine, just, go and have fun, I'll talk to you later."

Michael stood up from the booth and Maria tried to avoid the look he was giving her. "I've got to work in the morning, so I'm not coming over Iz. I'll walk Maria home."

"I don't need anyone to walk me home." Maria cried softly. "Look, I appreciate it, but... no."

"Maria, I think it has been established, you're not getting out of here alone." Tess smiled. "Just let Michael walk you home, and we'll talk to you later."

Exasperated, Maria finally relented. After grabbing her book bag from the back room she tried to sneak out the side door but Michael was standing there waiting. "You really don't have to do this, I get you were trying to be nice, but I don't live that far."

"I am going that way anyways."

"You don't even know where I live."

"The trailer park."

Maria flinched slightly. "Oh..." She bit her lip then glanced over at him. "Where do you live?"

"Over on Alameda."

"Michael... that is no where near the trailer park." Maria stopped walking and just looked at him.

"I know. Let's go."

She shook her head. "No, you're not walking me home."

"Maria, don't argue with me. You're not walking home alone." He was standing there, with his arms over his chest giving her this look that she knew better than to argue with. Finally she relented and began walking again.

After a few minutes Maria gathered up the nerve to speak. "So... Amy DeLuca is your mom isn't she?"

"Yep."

Maria glanced at him and then back at the ground. "She runs that little shop on main doesn't she?"

"Yep." He responded again and Maria decided to give up. He wasn't going to actually talk, and she didn't blame him. They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the entrance of the trailer park Maria stopped again.

"Thanks for walking me home. I appreciate it."

"No problem." Michael shoved his hands in his pocket. The wind was picking up and it suddenly got a lot colder. "Get inside, it's cold out." He nodded towards the trailers.

"I will... thanks." Maria bit her lip and then turned and jogged into the trailer park and down the dirt road to the trailer she shared with Hank. She pushed open the door and froze in her footsteps.

"Where the hell were you?" He growled from his spot on the recliner.

"What do you care?" Maria snapped back heading through the living room.

His hand shot out and grabbed her arm with so much force that Maria fell to her knees. "You stupid little bitch." Hank raised his hand and back handed her across the face, her head snapped to the side and she choked on a cry of pain.

Maria could feel the blood dripping from her lip. Slowly she raised her hand up to wipe away the drop of blood when he struck her again. Unprepared for the hit she fell, sprawling out across the floor. Tears welled up in her eyes and she didn't move. She laid there frozen. Hoping that maybe he was done. Maybe he would leave her alone. Sometimes a few slaps was good enough. Sometimes it wasn't.

The volume of the TV grew louder and Maria glanced over her shoulder. He had gone back to watching the show on television. Forgetting completely about her, and his desire to hurt her. Quietly as she could, Maria pushed herself up onto all fours and cautiously crawled out of the room, doing her best to make as little noise as possible. Once she reached the hall she pulled herself to her feet and walked the short distance down the hallway to her room. Once inside she locked the door and rushed to the closet and climbed inside.

With the door shut tightly she was safe in the dark. She rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes, and silently wished that she could wake up from all of this and it would just be a dream.

Maria sat beside her King. Beside him was his sister, and next to her was her betrothed. The Soldier. Maria's love. Carefully Maria cast a glance towards him, when he caught her gaze she blushed and straightened herself again. If anyone found out it would mean death. The King would find himself a new bride, a faithful bride. But she didn't care. She was in love.

Maria woke up early the next morning with a sore neck. She yawned and slowly opened the closet door. Her bedroom door was still in one piece, so apparently Hank had completely forgotten about her. She slowly opened her bedroom door and saw him passed out in the chair, a can of beer in his hand. She nodded slightly before heading for the bathroom. She rigged the door so he couldn't get in before stripping off her clothes and turning on the water.

After a quick shower she surveyed the situation. Hank was still asleep. The cut on her lip was healed and she had to work in a few hours. She locked her bedroom door again and dug her dirty uniform out of her bag and looked at it. It was a mess. With a sigh she held it up and waved her hand over it. The stains faded into nothing and Maria tossed the uniform on her bed. She was actually going back? She needed the money. Plus, it was a bonus to be away from Hank. But the whole fact that Alex's friends had suddenly latched onto her worried her. She'd never really had friends before and she wondered if Alex had just tried to convince them to be her friend.

They were all older than her. So if it was Alex's attempt to save her from being alone after he left, he wasn't doing a very good job of it. They would all leave the next fall as well.

Rolling her eyes, Maria picked up the uniform and stuffed it back into her bag and put on her shoes. Might as well go to work early. She had nothing else to do.

Maria reached the diner and walked inside. A few patrons were seated in their booths happily eating away at their fried food. She headed for the back room and smiled at Liz. "Hey."

"Maria! Oh you did come back!" Liz jumped a little in excitement and hugged the unsuspecting girl.

"Uh... yeah..."

"I was worried... that after, well you know. That you wouldn't come back." Liz frowned a little.

"I need the job." Maria shrugged. "I guess it'll take more than a few spilled shakes to get me out of here." Maria gave her a small smile.

"Ladies! I don't cook for myself!" A voice bellowed from the kitchen and Maria glanced over and spotted Michael standing at the grill. "And look who came back." He smirked a little.

Maria suddenly felt a little flustered and quickly hurried into the bathroom to change into her uniform. She walked back out tying the apron around her waist and then adjusting her antenna.

"Nice antenna." She heard and glanced up and saw Max, Liz's boyfriend, Captain of the wrestling team sitting at the bar.

"Thanks." Maria said a little awkwardly.

"I always try to convince Liz to wear them off the clock." He smirked as Liz rounded the corner.

"And I refuse." She laughed and swatted his arm. "So, ready to feed the masses?" Liz asked turning to Maria.

"Um... I guess?"

"That's the spirit!" Max laughed and shook his head.

"You'll get used to it, I promise." Liz gave her an encouraging smile. She spun around suddenly and rushed towards the window into the kitchen. "No cheese!" She yelped.

"I'm not a mind reader Liz." Michael barked at her.

"Sorry." She winced and turned back to Max. "Can't you make him be nice?" She asked with a whisper.

"Don't look at me. He never listens to a word I say." Max shook his head.

A few hours into Maria's shift, Alex walked through the door. "You and me need to have a little talk."

"Alex, I'm working."

"Oh, go ahead and take a break Maria. It's about time for it anyways." Liz smiled and turned back around and headed to a table.

"Thanks." Maria muttered, not meaning it in the least. "Alright, we'll talk." Maria sighed and headed to a booth in the corner with Alex.

"Where were you yesterday?" Alex asked with concern.

"I skipped school. The cut was still there... I didn't want people to see it."

"It's still there." Alex noticed.

"I know. I can't heal it." She whispered. "It won't go away."

"Was he home when you got home last night?" Alex glanced around the restaurant. Maria didn't respond. "He hit you?" Still silence. "Damn it, Maria. I am not going to sit around and let him keep doing this to you." He hissed.

"What are you going to do?" Maria asked raising her head.

"Tell someone. Anyone. Sheriff Valenti."

"I'll deny it Alex. You have no proof." He stared at her, in shock.

"Why would you protect him."

"Because, no matter how much you hate it. That is the closet thing I have to a home. And people find out? I get bounced around from foster home to foster home for the next two years.

"Wouldn't that be worth it? To not have to deal with him anymore?"

"And what? End up with someone worse?" Maria hissed at him before standing up quickly. "You tell anyone, I'll deny it." She said before turning on her heel and heading back to the counter.

"You okay?" Max asked from where he still sat at the counter.

"Fine." Maria snapped, then winced. "Sorry." She sighed.

When Monday rolled around, Maria hadn't expected anything to change. Just like any other day at school. Another day of being ignored, and ignoring everyone. Only that wasn't what she got. She was standing at her locker when she noticed the first change. "Hey Maria." Liz smiled as she walked past. Nothing big, a casual 'hi' in the hallways. Maria headed for first period and was grabbed as soon as she reached the door, and dragged to a new seat, by no one other than Tess.

The day got weirder and weirder as it went on. People were saying hi to her in the halls, and she had acquired new seats in almost all her classes. She hadn't realized how many classes she shared with Tess and Isabel. Lunch came, and instead of sitting by herself as usual, she was trapped between Isabel and Tess who were talking animatedly about cheerleading.

After school Maria did her best to try and sneak away from the school but was cornered by Alex. "I'll give you a ride."

"No." She shook her head.

"Maria, why does everything have to be a fight with you?" He asked annoyed. "Just get in the car. We need to talk."

"I have to work Alex."

"I'll give you a ride to work. You can spare two seconds to talk to me, can't you?"

"Fine." Maria sighed and climbed into the car with him. "So what is it that you want to talk about? How all your friends suddenly decided I'm their new pet project?"

"It isn't like that Maria. Isabel and Tess really like you. They think your nice, and they want to be your friend."

"Maybe I don't want friends?"

"If you didn't want friends you'd be doing a better job of refusing. I'm just saying... maybe it would be good for you to have some friends."

"Did you put them up to it?"

"Of course not, Maria. They genuinely like you, though at the moment, I'm beginning to wonder why." Maria's jaw dropped and she slapped his arm.

"You jerk."

Alex chuckled. "Maria, you're my best friend, you know I love you. And my friends like you, that is the only reason they are doing this. Don't be so suspicious of everything. Maybe you'll be happy for once."

It was late in the evening, and the restaurant was practically empty, except for a few people in one corner booth. "I'm gonna take off." Liz said getting up from where she had seated herself at the bar as she filled salt shakers.

"What?" Maria asked, suddenly feeling panicked.

"I have a date with Max, we close in an hour Maria, you will be fine, Michael is here till closing with you. You have nothing to worry about, you're doing great."

Maria bit her lip and watched as Liz hurried into the back to change, a moment later Max walked in and smiled at Maria. "Hey Maria."

"Hey. Liz is in the back."

"Great." He said and followed her. A few minutes later they rushed through the door laughing. "See ya Maria. See ya Michael!"

And then she found herself, trapped in the restaurant, alone with Michael. She glanced over and saw him watching her through the window, and blushed profusely.

It was late, and the restaurant was closed and cleaned up. "You ready to go?" Michael asked walking to the front of the diner, ripping off his apron.

"Um... you're not walking me home again Michael."

"No, I'm not. I'm actually giving you a ride since my mother is in town. I have the car. So lets go." He said walking to the door. He pushed it open and grabbed his eyes from his pocket. With a inward sigh Maria followed. They drove in silence to the trailer park and Maria was silently wishing she had changed back into her jeans before they'd left. He pulled the car to a stop and she lifted her head up, staring towards the trailer. Hank was home.

She never had worn a skirt in her life for fear of what Hank might decide to do. "Thanks." Maria whispered and climbed out of the car. She walked towards the trailer, and tugged a little at the hem of her skirt. Her jeans were in her locker at work. How could she have been so stupid? "Damn it." She hissed quietly and took a breath before opening the door. Hank was in the kitchen grabbing a beer.

"About damn time you got home." He turned around and his eyes narrowed her her legs. "Whorin' yourself out?"

Maria's jaw dropped. "What?!"

"You're a little whore. That's all you are." He slurred and Maria just shook her head and headed for her room. He caught her off guard and grabbed her wrist and shoved her back against the wall.

"I'll scream."

"Who cares?" Maria looked up at him, panic written across her face.

"Let me go." She whispered and tried to tug her wrist from his grasp.

"You've got a pretty nice body for a whore." He spat out and Maria let out a strangled sob.

"Let me go." She pleaded.

Hank looked at her, down at her bare thighs, then at his beer. In that moment. He was more interested in the beer. He released her and headed back to his recliner.

Maria gasped for breath as she ran down to her room and slammed the door shut and locked it. She was trembling and her stomach was doing flips. She thought she might throw up. She changed into her pajamas quickly and crawled into her bed. She yanked the blankets up over her head and cried herself to sleep.

Weeks passed and Maria continued working at the Crashdown, and for some reason becoming closer and closer to Alex's friends. So easily she had seemed to slip into the group. Isabel and Tess were always friendly towards her. Kyle joked with her. Michael still stared at her. She almost felt like she belonged. Part of her wondered if Alex had told them anything about her life, but they never seemed to be suspicious, or feel sorry for her, so she wasn't so sure he had said anything. It was almost as if they really liked her.

Alex was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter when he heard his friends knock on the door. He walked through the living room and pulled open the door. "Hey." He said and grinned with Isabel hopped through the door and threw her arms around his shoulders.

"Hi." She mumbled through her kiss. When she pulled back she noticed Maria asleep on the couch. "Oh..." She frowned. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah... I dunno. She said she didn't sleep much last night, she just came in and curled up on the couch and went to sleep. "We could go down to the den... but the TV down there is a piece of shit."

"Michael, why don't you just take her upstairs?" Tess suggested. "Then she can come and join us when she wakes up." She said with a smile.

"Sure." Michael carefully scooped her up into his arms and carried her featherweight body up the stairs to the guest room. Using his powers he pushed the blankets down and laid her down. Careful not to wake her he pulled the blankets back up and tucked them around her. Only then, when she turned her head and snuggled into the warmth of the bed did he notice the massive bruise on the side of her face.

His brow furrowed and he reached towards her. Gently he cupped her cheek and stroked his thumb along the cut. His healing powers weren't that good, but he was sure he could heal something like this. Michael closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them the bruise was gone, but he didn't move his hand from her face.

"Hmm." She murmured in her sleep. "My Soldier." She whispered and reached up to touch his hand.

"My Queen." The words came from his mouth yet he didn't even know where they came from. Queen? He stroked her cheek and watched as she smiled in her sleep. "My Queen." He whispered again and leaned down to softly kiss her forehead.

After making sure she was tucked in he headed for the door, and after casting one last glance at her he closed the door quietly and jogged down the stairs. "So what are we watching?" He asked as everyone had started to get situated.

They all spoke at once. And all with a different title. "Star Wars." "American Pie." "The Notebook!" "Terminator." "Finding Neverland." "Casablanca."

"Great. We're doing this again?" Michael asked sitting down on the couch. Her looked around the room. Alex and Isabel were sitting together on the floor, his back was against the couch, and hers against his chest. Liz was comfortably seated in Max's lap in the recliner. Kyle was sitting in the other chair, and Tess was at the other end of the couch.

"Looks like you're the final choice Michael. Either pick one of our movies, and by that, I mean my movie, or pick a different one, and we end up not watching anything tonight, but stare at each other for hours." Tess said tucking her feet underneath her legs. She glanced down at Alex and Isabel, then over at Max and Liz. Neither couple seemed to care if a movie wasn't decided on.

"Sorry Tess. I hate that movie. American Pie it is!" Michael said pointing to the DVD player.

Kyle crowed with excitement that his movie was the pick. Tess scowled.

"Sorry Tessa, you know I never liked Johnny Depp." Michael reached over and lightly shoved her arm and she slapped his hand.

"You're a jerk." She huffed before smiling a little.

About an hour into the movie, Isabel had fallen asleep, and Michael had been tossing popcorn at her, trying to get it stuck in her hair, until Alex realized what he was doing and threw the popcorn back. The stairs creaked and Michael glanced up and saw a drowsy Maria walking down them. She paused for a moment in confusion and then just shook her head and headed for the kitchen.

Michael jumped up quickly and followed her. "Hey."

"Hi." She murmured filling the tea pot with water.

"Are you actually awake yet?" Michael chuckled when she turned on the wrong burner.

"No. I don't think so." Maria sighed and switched the pot to the other burner. She rubbed her hand over her face and then paused. The bruise. There had been a huge bruise. But her face didn't feel tender at all. And Michael wasn't commenting on it.

"You said something earlier." Michael said leaning against the counter, watching her.

"I did?" She grabbed a coffee cup and a tea bag and set them down beside the stove.

"Yeah. I took you upstairs so we could watch the movie. Alex didn't want to wake you up, said you were pretty beat." He paused, and she looked up at him. A nervous expression crossed over her face for a moment. "But you said something in your sleep."

"Really? What did I say? That I liked to be pestered when I am still half asleep?" She asked with the hint of a smirk on her lips.

Michael chuckled. "You said..." He moved closer to her, invading her personal bubble. She froze as he leaned towards her ear. "My Soldier."

Maria's knees almost gave out hearing him say that phrase. "I was dreaming." She told him and steadied herself against the counter.

"Pretty intense dream I would have to say." Michael moved away again and leaned back against the counter. "So... who is your soldier?"

She shook her head quickly. "No one... I don't know. It's just... this dream. I've been having it since I was a kid." Maria shrugged. "What do you care who my Soldier is?"

"I don't know. I was just wondering." Michael shrugged.

"It is just a silly dream Michael." Maria told him and the tea kettle whistled causing her to jump a little. She took a breath and dumped the water into her mug with the tea bag and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Come on, we're watching American Pie." Michael said and headed back for the living room. When the two arrived the seating arrangements had shifted Isabel and Alex had vanished, and Tess had moved to the floor near Kyle's chair. Michael sat down on the couch, and Maria sat down at the other end. She pulled her feet up onto the couch and slowly began to sip her tea.

The room was dark and Maria welcomed it. She liked the dark. She could think when it was dark. She felt safe in the dark. Her fight with Hank had been pretty intense. She had tried to fight back. But Maria couldn't use her powers. She didn't trust them. She was afraid. Alex was right. As they sat there, something touched her foot and she flinched slightly.

Maria glanced down and saw Michael's hand resting on her bare foot while his eyes were on the movie. She bit her lip a little, but didn't move her foot away. There was something comforting in the touch.

As the end credits were rolling Alex made his way back down the stairs, not accompanied by Isabel. "Hey, you guys know where the blankets are." He told them. Liz had fallen asleep on Max's chest, and Maria was struggling to keep her eyes open as she lay curled up on her side on the couch. Michael's hand now resting around her ankle. Tess was leaning against Kyle's chair, and Kyle was snoring softly.

"I should get home." Maria said struggling to sit up.

"No, Maria, and I mean it this time. It's part of movie night tradition. Everyone stays." Alex said and then turned and headed back up the stairs.

"Why don't you head back up to the guest room." Michael suggested.

"But..." She glanced at Max who was trying to shift his weight beneath Liz, and at Tess who was pulling some blankets out of the closet. "How is that fair?" Maria frowned.

"Fine, I'll take the bed." Michael smirked and Maria's jaw dropped.

"Jerk."

"There are two guest rooms, and the den, and the couch we're currently sitting on. You take one room, Liz and Max will probably take the other. Me and Tess will take the den, and Kyle..." Michael glanced over at the still sleeping man. "Will get to sleep on this lovely piece of furniture."

Maria nodded slowly. For some reason she felt a twinge of jealousy at the idea of Tess and Michael sharing a sleeping space. And where that jealousy was coming from she wasn't sure. "Okay." She nodded and headed up the stairs to the bedroom.

Jealousy. That wasn't really an emotion Maria was familiar with. She was jealous of people who had real families, and friends, but over the last few weeks, she had gained those friends she always wanted. She actually had real friends. She still wasn't quite used to that.